


A Quick and Dirty English Grammar Rundown

by pensee



Category: Original Work
Genre: Grammar Tutorial, How to do English Grammar in 10 minutes, Inspired by Twitter, May update with future chapters if there is interest, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:47:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23621794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pensee/pseuds/pensee
Summary: Hi, everyone.This work is intended as a very abbreviated descriptive tour of English grammar and its uses. It introduces certain grammar terminology, but does not linger (and hopefully does not confuse). This work is dedicated to my fellow writers, who work hard to do their best and provide us with beautiful works every day! <3(Excuse me for any typos, I have no beta reader.)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	A Quick and Dirty English Grammar Rundown

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I am not a grammar expert, and am posting this work for fun in order to share what knowledge I do have.
> 
> If you enjoy, please find me on Twitter @penseeart for more grammar (and fandom).

A FEW useful grammar tips, in 3 sections:

  1. Parts of a sentence
  2. Types of sentences
  3. How to use grammar effectively



  1. Parts of a sentence


  * A sentence is composed of two main parts: 
    * Noun phrase (subject)
    * Verb phrase (predicate)
  * A noun phrase contains:
    * A determiner (words like _a, the, an, that, those_ , etc.)
    * A noun (a person, place, or thing)
    * An optional prepositional phrase


  * A verb phrase contains:
    * A verb (a word that reflects what the noun phrase is doing)
    * An optional prepositional phrase
  * A prepositional phrase is a part of the sentence which contains:
    * Location information (“on the sofa”) 
    * Time information (“on the fourth of May”)
    * A preposition
    * Common prepositions are words such as : _as, on, of, because of, between, by, during, like, into, through, with_ , etc. (Please reference an English text and/or Google for a more complete list of prepositions)



  1. TYPES OF SENTENCE PATTERNS


  * Sentences can be divided into different types based on their different types of verbs. 
  * A verb describes the relationship between the subject of a sentence and the predicate which contains the verb (the subject is somehow RELATED to the predicate).
  * NOTE: The subject may also act upon and affect what is called the direct object (the thing that receives the action). The direct object can be another noun phrase (see Section 1. on parts of a sentence to review subject, predicate, noun phrase and verb phrase). 
  * A sentence pattern may have (4) types of verbs:


  1. A “be” verb, which may be “is” or “am”
  2. A linking verb, such as “seem” or “became”
  3. An intransitive verb, such as “swam”
  4. A transitive verb, such as “moved” 



EXAMPLES OF SENTENCES AND SENTENCE PATTERNS: 

The “be” verbs:

  * Pattern One: “I am on the sofa”: I (subject) am (be verb) on the sofa (this is location information, which modifies the “be” verb)
  * Pattern Two: “She is happy”: She (subject) is (be verb) happy (an adjective, which describes the subject)
  * Pattern Three: “I am a writer”: I (subject) am (be verb) a writer (subject complement: I = writer)
  * NOTE: These sentence patterns One, Two, and Three apply to other subjects as well. For example, a Pattern Three sentence may also look like: “The cat is a rascal” : cat = rascal. 



The linking verbs:

  * Pattern Four: “She seems happy”: She (subject) seems (intransitive verb) happy (adjective that describes the subject). 
  * Pattern Five: “She became a writer”: She (subject) became (intransitive verb) a writer (subject complement: She = writer). 



The intransitive verbs:

  * Pattern Six: “She swam through the breakwater”: She (subject) swam (intransitive verb) through the breakwater (prepositional phrase). *** See Section 1. to review information about prepositional phrases


  * NOTE: Intransitive verbs are not “be” verbs and they are not “action” verbs in the sense that they do not perform any action upon or change a direct object the way that transitive verbs do. ***See the beginning of Section 2. to review what a direct object is. 



The transitive verbs:

  * Pattern Seven: “He baked a cake”: He (subject) baked (transitive verb) a cake (direct object, which has been affected by the subject)
  * Pattern Eight: “I made Barney a birthday card”: I (subject) made (transitive verb) Barney (indirect object, also benefits from the action performed by the subject, but is not the main recipient of the action) a birthday card (direct object, which was the main recipient of the action done by the subject) 
  * Pattern Nine: “He found her intelligent” : He (subject) found (transitive verb) her (direct object) intelligent (adjectival object complement, which describes the direct object: her = intelligent)
  * Pattern Ten: “He found it an annoyance” : He (subject) found (transitive verb) it (direct object) an annoyance (noun phrase object complement) NOTE: In this sentence pattern, both the direct object and the object complement are nouns, whereas in Pattern Nine, the direct object complement was an adjective. 



  1. How to use grammar effectively:



NOTE: The following are tips that I have been taught. I agree with them, but am also guilty of breaking these rules. However, they are a good guideline if you are writing fiction and want to add nuance to your writing, and/or if you are writing business, academic, etc. works and want to communicate more directly. 

  * Avoid using prepositional phrases in the main part of your sentence: Prepositional phrases may convolute your writing. Trust yourself to describe setting/action/etc. using transitive pattern sentences (Patterns Seven through Ten) like “He tossed the dancer into the air with a flourish.” I used two prepositional phrases in this sentence “into the air”/ “with a flourish”, BUT the main part of the sentence was evocative on its own. “He tossed the dancer” paints a vivid mental picture, even without the use of any prepositional phrases. 
  * Avoid using adverbs: Shout out to Stephen King, who does not like adverb usage at all. Adverbs modify the verb, and often end in _-ly_ (e.g., “He ran slowly” / How did he run? In a slow fashion). (NOTE: DO NOT USE THE -LY ENDING AS A FOOLPROOF GUIDE: The word “lovely,” for example, is an adjective, not an adverb). For example, “He fancily twirled the dancer across the floor.” This adverb use seems innocuous enough, but if you have a dozen sentences about her laughing “happily”, him frowning “unhappily”, or them “walking jauntily”, you’re discounting the other tools you have in your toolbox, including using adjectives to describe the subject and letting the strength of your writing speak for itself. She could let out a “happy laugh” rather than be laughing happily. The fact that she was laughing in the context of a situation that would bring her happiness (a wedding, a graduation, etc.), and in the broader context of your writing (she is tearing up because she is happy, etc.) should be strong enough to stand on its own. You do not have to over-explain yourself by adding _-ly_ adverbs to every sentence. 
  * Avoid run-on sentences: As a writer, it is easy to get over-excited and want to cram everything into one sentence. (I do this a lot). However, choose the focus of your sentence with care. If I want to use my first sentence to talk about what Mary did to Anne, I should talk about what Mary did to Anne in sentence one. Depending on the context, I can save how Mary _felt about Anne doing whatever Anne did_ for sentence two. 



Possible further topics of discussion:

  * The active versus the passive voice
  * Different verb tenses
  * Infinitive phrases
  * Different types of clauses
  * How to use relative pronouns
  * Compound sentences
  * Modifying your sentences (like adjectives and adverbs, but for entire sentences)



**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this part of the tutorial, there may be more in store for the future! Thank you for reading, and drop me a line in the comments if you have any interest in a second chapter with the “possible further topics of discussion.” <333


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